• NAOMI DELAP
  CEO
  Appointed: May 2014

Naomi came to Birth Companions after running Inside Job Productions, a social enterprise working with women and ex-offenders. She has a background in communications, training at the BBC and working as a documentary film-maker in the UK, and in Communications for Development in East Africa before moving to the voluntary sector.

• ANNA WISE
  Head of Operations
  Appointed: January 2011

Anna has been involved with Birth Companions since 2007 and started out as a volunteer before joining the staff. She manages their website, database and external communications management, and oversees evaluations and monitoring which include tracking aspects of support and generating impact data for fundraising activities.

• HENDRIKUS VAN HENSBERGEN
  Founder/Chief Executive
  Appointed: June 2014

Hendrikus has previously worked as a government policy adviser and studied at Bristol and Oxford University, with an interest in Evolutionary Biology.

• NATHAN SANSOM
  CEO
  Appointed: February 2019

Nathan's most recent roles have been within charities focussed on improving life chances for young people. He has been responsible for programme design and scale-up in senior roles at The Challenge Network, Starfish and Frontline. He moved to the third sector from a career in the civil service including serving as the Programme Director responsible for the National Citizen Service, the coalition Government’s flagship youth programme.

• JEM STEIN
  Founder
  Appointed: March 2013

Jem is CEO and founded the charity in March 2013. After graduating from University, he spent time as a youth worker in his local Jewish community to work with children on issues like mental health and social action before founding The Bike Project.

• ALEX SMITH
  CEO and Founder
  Appointed: August 2011

Alex has been awarded two UnLtd social enterprise awards for his work founding North London Cares in 2011, and South London Cares in 2014. In 2018 he became one of twenty inaugural Obama Fellows in recognition of his work building communities to reduce loneliness and polarisation. Previously, he was an aide to Ed Miliband and editor of one of the biggest political websites in the UK, and is currently a governor at Holloway School in North London.

• SARAH ANDERSON
  Founder and CEO
  Appointed: July 2016

Sarah was a volunteer at Central London Samaritans for 35 years, during which time she spent 3 years as Director. She has run a number of businesses and social enterprises in the past and is currently a Non-Executive Director for a medium sized business. Previously, she was a Public Appointments Assessor where she was responsible for the recruitment of chairs of public bodies for many government departments. She was also a Non-Executive Director of Job Centre Plus, ACAS and the Commission for Equality and Human Rights.

• ASHLEY ICETON
  Founder and CEO
  Appointed: September 1996

• NICK BENT
  CEO
  Appointed: January 2023

Nick has nearly 30 years of professional experience in the private, government and third sectors focused on creating better chances and choices in life for young people from less advantaged backgrounds. He came to upReach after over a decade as the CEO and Co-Founder of The Tutor Trust, which is an Impetus portfolio charity and a key delivery partner of the National Tutoring Programme.

• STEPHANIE LIEBER
  Director of Programmes and Impact
  Appointed: October 2016

Stephanie joined upReach after working in the corporate world as a tax director for 25 years. She wanted to join upReach so she could share insights she gained while developing her own career with Associates as they are launching their careers. After joining upReach in the first Future Charity Leaders Programme cohort in 2016, she now leads the delivery team to ensure the charity meets commitments to Associates and Partners as the Director of Programmes and Impact.

• LOUISA MITCHELL
  Chief Executive Officer
  Appointed: September 2016

Before becoming CEO, Louisa joined West London Zone to design the plan and implement their pilot project in White City in 2015. She has extensive experience in social policy research and advocacy, managing charities in London and Hong Kong, and prior to this was an investment banker.

• STEVE FREER
  Founder & Joint CEO

Steve has worked in the criminal justice system since 1986. Starting at HMP Wormwood Scrubs he worked with some of the most notorious criminals in the UK. Since then he has managed a wide range of projects in prisons in the North of England. More recently he worked as Business Development Manager at HMP Leeds and it was during this time he developed a successful model for rehabilitating ex-offenders based on employment. Keen to do more Steve decided to set up Tempus Novo

• VAL WAWROSZ
  Founder & Joint CEO

Val has been working in the criminal justice system since 1988, starting his career working at HMYOI Huntercombe with young Offenders. He has worked with every type of prisoner from remands to those serving a life sentence. Val`s passion for the rehabilitation of offenders contributed to the creation of Tempus Novo

• TOM CLARKE-FORREST
  Founder and CEO
  Appointed: July 2006

Tom has led the organisation through significant change and growth in the last 14 years and was named ‘Future Face of Charity and Social Enterprise’ at the 2019 Future Faces Awards. He is also a Business Mentor for ‘Unltd’, a leading provider of support for social entrepreneurs in the UK

• ALEX SMITH

Alex, CEO and founder of South London Cares and The Cares Family independent ‘sibling’ organisations, was formerly an aide to Ed Miliband and editor of one of the biggest political websites in the UK. He is a governor at Holloway School and was a volunteer during the 2012 Olympics. He has been awarded two UnLtd social enterprise awards for his work founding North London Cares in 2011 and South London Cares in 2014. In 2018 he became one of 20 inaugural Obama Fellows in recognition of his work building communities to reduce loneliness and polarisation.

• REVD TOM JACKSON MBE
  Founder and Executive Chair
  Appointed: January 2010

A former litigation lawyer and entrepreneur, Tom was co-founder of the Centre for Social Justice think tank and is now the Founder and CEO of Love Your Neighbour UK emergency COVID-19 response campaign. He holds an MBA from Henley Business School and is a Church of England minister at Holy Trinity Brompton where he is Director of Social Transformation and pastor for the Entrepreneurs and Business Network. Tom was awarded an MBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours 2018 for Services to Young People and the Community.

• JO RICE
  Chief Executive adn Co-Founder
  Appointed: January 2020

Jo co-founded Resurgo Trust with Tom Jackson in 2003. Drawing on her former corporate coaching experience, Jo authored and delivered the first Spear Programmes and is committed to the importance and power of coaching and impact management in effecting social change. Jo is a coach accredited by the International Coach Federation and, through Resurgo Consulting, coaches individuals and teams to develop healthy organisational culture and drive social impact in organisations from diverse sectors including private equity, banking, hospitality, retail, churches and charity. Jo is also a trustee of International Justice Mission UK.

• ALEX SMITH

Alex is CEO and founder of North London Cares and The Cares Family independent ‘sibling’ organisations. He was formerly an aide to Ed Miliband and editor of one of the biggest political websites in the UK. He is a governor at Holloway School and was a volunteer during the 2012 Olympics. He has been awarded two UnLtd social enterprise awards for his work founding North London Cares in 2011 and South London Cares in 2014. In 2018 he became one of 20 inaugural Obama Fellows in recognition of his work building communities to reduce loneliness and polarisation.

• SIMON GALE
  CEO

Simon has been working for Justlife as Regional Operations and Hub Manager in Brighton since 2012, and took over as CEO from Gary Bishop in January 2020. Prior to working at Justlife, he was Operations and Finance Director for a London based youth project and has worked extensively in the voluntary sector and with vulnerable people over the past 18 years.

• ALEX ROBINSON
  CEO
  Appointed: May 2022

Alex is a Fellow of On Purpose, a year-long leadership training programme focused on the social enterprise sector. As part of the scheme he worked at Royal Bank of Scotland and created a social impact measurement framework for the bank's social lending charity. He also spent six months at Collaborate CIC, a nonprofit consultancy that works with public services, creating a new Collaborate website and delivering projects for local councils and charitable foundations. He previously worked in the music industry and was the founder and Managing Director of The Other Hand, a services company that represents US-based record labels overseas.

• GAVIN ELLIS
  Director and Co-Founder
  Appointed: April 2014

Gavin has previously been Senior Client Manager at Global Action Plan and led major environmental behaviour change campaigns with clients such as Sainsbury’s, Telefonica and Unilever. He also set up the UK’s first online carbon calculator and the UK’s first environmental lifestyle magazine Ergo.

• JUDITH EATON
  Chief Operating Officer
  Appointed: June 2013

Judith joined Sand Dams Worldwide in 2013 as Head of Finance and has managed all finance, governance and support activities of the charity before taking her current role. She has over 25 years experience working in the private sector having worked in public relations, media, hospitality, facilities management and healthcare.

• LAURA CLARKE
  CEO

Laura joined ClientEarth from her role as British High Commissioner to New Zealand. She has spent 20 years in Government, and diplomatic roles across Africa, Asia and Europe. During that time, she has worked extensively on climate, environmental and sustainability issues. Laura brings a deep understanding of global policy issues and international relations, alongside extensive senior leadership and partnership-building experience, all of which will be critical as we expand our impact globally. As British High Commissioner, she worked to strengthen the UK-New Zealand relationship, including through the negotiation of a standard-setting Free Trade Agreement, co-operation with New Zealand and the South Pacific during the UK’s COP26 Presidency, and work on international security. She also worked to strengthen the UK’s relationship with New Zealand Māori. In her role as Governor of the Pitcairn Islands she was responsible for the governance and sustainability of the Islands, and efforts to maximize the benefits of its Marine Protected Area – the fourth largest in the world.

• CLARE LYONS-COLLINS
  CEO
  Appointed: January 2023

Clare has a wealth of experience across NHS policy and practice, initially training as an Occupational Therapist specialising in Stroke and Head Injury and laterally in mental health. She has held operational roles in the NHS in acute services, including women's health, mental health and commissioning. She also worked nationally for the healthcare regulator Monitor on national mental health policy as well as leading a national improvement model co-produced with mental health trusts and people who use services.

• SUSANNAH HARDYMAN
  Chief Executive
  Appointed: October 2011

Susannah is the founder and CEO of Action Tutoring. She was inspired to start Action Tutoring following experiences working in the charity sector and as a private tutor, recognising the potential to make the benefits of tutoring available to those that might not otherwise afford it, using volunteers. She graduated from the University of Cambridge, where she studied Theology at St John’s College and holds a Masters from Kings College London in Politics, Theology and NGOs. She is a fellow of the RSA and a Leaders Plus alumni, and is also a governor at a secondary school in Camberwell where she chairs the Teaching and Learning committee (Susannah is on maternity leave until autumn 2021).

• AMANDA MCINTYRE
  Deputy CEO

Amanda runs the charity and was its first employee. She led the multi-agency and interdisciplinary teamwork between experts to create For Baby’s Sake. She represents the voluntary sector on Hertfordshire’s Domestic Abuse Executive Board. Amanda’s career has focused on bringing together the public, private and voluntary sectors to improve public services and strengthen local communities.  She worked at the CBI for 18 years, including as Head of Modernising Government. She was Public Affairs Director at Accord plc and Director of the Employment Related Services Association. Amanda is a primary school Chair of Governors in Ponders End, Enfield.

• ELAINE FULTON
  Director of Strategic Partnerships
  Appointed: January 2014

Elaine is Director of Social Investment. She plays a leading role in creating and maintaining the charity’s strategic partnerships, including negotiating collaborative agreements with local authority partners. She managed the contract for the evaluation of For Baby’s Sake. Elaine has extensive operational management, commissioning and strategic leadership experience in the voluntary and community sector, health service and local government. This included responsibility for Early Years and Childcare Services, Young People’s and Family Services, Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services and leadership of Early Intervention and Prevention Strategies and multi-agency, integrated working.

• JUDITH REES
  Director of Operations
  Appointed: June 2015

Judith has operational leadership of the delivery and development of the programme, manages the Team Managers and oversees case supervision across all sites. Judith previously worked in the NHS for 33 years, having been a Staff Nurse, Midwife, Health Visitor ,Practice Teacher, Safeguarding Children's Nurse and Team Leader for Health Visitors and School Nurses before establishing and being the Supervisor of Hertfordshire Family Nurse Partnership.   Judith completed her MSc in Child Protection and Child Welfare with a dissertation on producing an assessment tool for Health Visitors responding to police notifications of domestic abuse where there were children or an unborn baby in the family.

• ROB OWEN
  CEO
  Appointed: February 2007

Rob joined St Giles Trust after a career in investment banking. He joined Nomura as a graduate trainee in 1987, joining the Japanese equities desk. He moved to Schroders Japan in 1992 to work in international sales and then progressed to ABN Amro as Director on the emerging markets desk. He left the City to do an MBA to pursue a career change in a place where he could make a social difference. He has been on multiple polar and high altitude expeditions raising money for charity, as well as completing the Marathon Des Sables and the Devizes to Westminster kayak race. In 2015, he was awarded an OBE for his work in the criminal justice field.

• KIM ROBERT
  Chief Executive
  Appointed: April 2012

Kim became HENRY’s Chief Executive in April 2012 and has a professional background in parenting, family support and early development in the NHS and voluntary sector. She is the author of Early Learning Matters, a good practice guide, commissioned by the Department for Children, Schools and Families in 2009 and co-author with Professor Mary Rudolf of A Healthy Start; a best practice handbook for health and early years practitioners. Her mission is to transform traditional approaches to obesity and respond to the strategic need for prevention, being a regular speaker at health and early years events and contributor to radio, TV and print media.

• PROFESSOR MARK JOHNSON
  Chief Scientific Officer
  Appointed: January 2016

As a physician and obstetrician, Mark saw the effects of prematurity first hand and with his expertise in obstetrics and research was in a unique position to set up Borne as a research appeal with Chelsea and Westminster Hospital before the charity became independent in 2016. As Borne’s Chief Scientific Officer, Mark is responsible for framing and delivering the strategy for research funded by Borne. This is in support of a Scientific Advisory Board that review all research proposals and oversee the measurement and reporting of Borne’s progress and impact.

• CLARE BROOK
  CEO
  Appointed: March 2015

Clare was a pioneer of environmental investing before joining BLUE in November 2014. She managed SRI funds at Jupiter, NPI and Henderson and was Head of Socially Responsible Investment at Aviva. In 2009 she founded WHEB Asset Management. As CEO of the Blue Marine foundation, she aims to combine the rigour of the investment world with her passion for solving environmental problems.

• CHARLES CLOVER
  Co-founder and Executive Director

Charles made his name as an author and environmental journalist writing principally for The Sunday Times and The Daily Telegraph for which he was Environment Editor for 22 years. His book The End of The Line and the award-winning documentary film that it inspired raised overfishing as a global problem.

• DR DAVID TUDOR
  Projects Director

David has worked in marine management for over 20 years. His experience includes running environmental campaigns on the beaches of Australia, researching marine plastic pollution in the Pacific, leading on policy advice at a pivotal time for the UK’s marine legislation, and working on the world’s largest offshore renewable energy programme.

• CATHERINE BARNARD
  CEO
  Appointed: September 2019

Catherine became CEO in September 2019 and has more than 25 years of experience in conservation and natural resource management. She spent 15 years in the BirdLife International network, working for the BirdLife Secretariat and the RSPB, where she led the RSPB's international conservation programmes department. She was also president of the Sustainable Agriculture Network and involved in the development of their voluntary sustainability standard which is widely used for tropical agricultural commodities including coffee and cocoa.

• DAVID ELLIOTT
  CEO
  Appointed: January 2016

David has worked in the non-profit sector for a number of international organisations, prior to which he was a management consultant for Accenture. He is a Commissioner for the London Sustainable Development Commission, a Trustee for the African Conservation Foundation and a previous Trustee for the International Tree Foundation. He holds BSc degrees in Biological Sciences from Edinburgh University and Politics and International Relations from LSE, and an MBA from Cambridge University.

• JAMIE FEILDEN
  CEO

Jamie graduated from the University of Edinburgh and taught History at Haling Manor School in Croydon from 2003. He worked in the Teach First office as part of the recruitment team from 2005 to 2008, focusing on the Jamie’s Farm project during his holidays and weekends. Jamie now manages the farming, fundraising and finance functions of the charity, as well as driving growth strategy.

• MARK VYNER
  CEO

Mark joined TwentyTwenty in March 2018 after having worked with Christian Aid for the last 12 years. His previous role was as a partner in an accountancy and consulting firm in Leicester, where he worked for several years, gaining financial management and strategic leadership skills.

• DAVE HEARN
  Programmes & Impact Director

Dave joined TwentyTwenty in April 2019 as Programmes and Impact Director after a 10 years career in the U.S. Air Force as an intelligence officer. Upon leaving the military he co-founded a non-profit with the mission to train and equip young people to start NGOs and start-ups around the world. He then moved to the UK where he worked in both the charity and education sectors, working primarily to help those with special educational needs and disadvantaged backgrounds.

• AIMI MCCAFFERY
  Fundraising Director

Aimi joined TwentyTwenty in July 2019. She is a Chartered Marketer with over 20 years of experience in communications and fundraising roles across private, public and third sector organisations.

• PAUL STUART
  CEO

Paul qualified as a chartered accountant with Ernst & Young before spending over 20 years in international business. During this time he developed partnerships in a number of different countries whilst leading an international publisher. He lived and volunteered with an international NGO in Mozambique for a year and joined Send a Cow in 2013. Paul is also a Trustee of Development Initiatives, an international development organisation that focuses on putting data-driven decision-making at the heart of poverty eradication.

• SANDY LUIK
  CEO

Sandy is an environmental lawyer by training. In her previous roles, Sandy has worked on many marine matters including fisheries management, seafood sustainability, marine protected areas, whaling and oil drilling. She comes from environmental lawyers, ClientEarth, where she was one of two Programme Directors and a key member of the team that built the organisation. She has worked for public interest organisations for many years including the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, though her career started working in London City law firms in their environmental, corporate and commercial departments, and as a regulation/environmental law solicitor at Anglian Water.

• KIM WEST
  CEO

Kim West joined as Chief Executive Officer in August 2018. Her expertise up to this point in her career included marketing, new product development and managing large scale organisational change. Since then, Kim has worked for VSO International, CUSO International and United Purpose. She managed programmes and teams as Country Director in Guyana, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and more recently Nepal, as Regional Director in the Caribbean and in International Programmes Leadership roles.

• ED NORTON
  CEO

Ed became CEO in January 2020 and started his career in financial services, before first getting involved with Life Cycle UK as a volunteer in 2011. He soon joined the staff - first as Fundraising and Marketing Officer then as Development Manager – and has helped the charity to triple in size. He has secured contracts with 10 Local Authorities plus the Ministry of Justice, over £1m from Charitable Trusts and Foundations and helped rapidly scale-up income from social enterprise activities. Ed is an alumni of Common Purpose, a Clore Social Leadership fellow and sits on the Nationwide Foundation’s South West Community Board.

• LUKE WILSON
  CEO

Luke has been CEO since 2018. He studied Biology at Southampton University and Imperial College London, and worked as a conservation Biologist in Switzerland and the Brazilian Amazon. He then taught Biology in a secondary school in London for five years, before joining Resurgo as a Spear Centre Manager. After four years working directly with 16-24 year-olds, helping them into work or training, Luke then became Resurgo’s Head of Impact in 2014.

• ALEX STEPHANY
  CEO

Before Beam, Alex ran the parking app, JustPark, which he grew from 2 people to over 40, and still supports as a Board Advisor. At JustPark, he gained experience crowdfunding when he led an equity crowdfunding round that was the largest for a startup ever. He is the author of the book The Business of Sharing, published by Macmillan, on the board of crowdfunding platform Spacehive that deals with civic improvements, and has advised the city of Seoul as part of the Mayor's Sharing Economy Advisory Panel.

• TERESA ODENDAHJI
  CEO

Terry has worked for more than 40 years to bridge the gap between our natural and human worlds. Prior to joining Global Greengrants in 2009, she helmed the National Network of Grantmakers for over a decade, and later the New Mexico Association of Grantmakers. Terry also worked to protect public lands in the western United States as a program officer at the Wyss Foundation. An anthropologist by training, she has held faculty positions at Georgetown University, the University of California - San Diego, and Yale University. Terry’s background in anthropology and philanthropy complements her expertise in gender studies. She is the co-author of four books about philanthropy and is the co-founder of the Institute for Women’s Policy Research in Washington, DC, and the Institute for Collaborative Change in New Mexico.

• KERRY SMITH
  CEO

Kerry joined the Helen Bamber Foundation in May 2018. She started her career at the Refugee Legal Centre and as a trainee at Bhatt Murphy Solicitors. Moving into international humanitarian work, she was posted in Ethiopia and Columbia for the International Committee of the Red Cross before returning to work as a Gender Adviser at Amnesty International UK focusing on trafficking. She then moved to work on children in conflict at Save the Children before joining Plan International UK as Head of Girls Rights and Youth and developing a new area of work on girls rights in the UK.

• KATH ROSEN
  CEO

Kath has worked for a number of environmental and community development charities. She began her journey by volunteering, leading nature conservation projects in London. She trained in international development and lived for a time in Zimbabwe including studying permaculture as a system of promoting food security.

• MARIE BENTON
  CEO

• RACHEL CLARE
  Fundraising director

• STEPHANIE WOOD
  CEO

After 20 years working in film production Stephanie took a break to enjoy time with her two children. In 2007 she set up School Food Matters and in 2012 was invited to join the School Food Plan's expert panel, tasked by the DFE to create an action plan to help head teachers improve school food. Stephanie is a trustee of Sustain and Alexandra Rose, and a governor at Grey Court School

• CHRISTIAN GUY
  CEO

Christian Guy was previously a special adviser in 10 Downing Street and before that, the managing director at the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ). Christian is assistant director of Jonathan Aitken's Westminster Forum and a Trustee for Emmaus Road, a church in Guildford and Woking helping communities through a 24-7 prayer movement. Emmaus Road are part of the Boiler Room Network, a worldwide family of missional and monastic communities committed to a shared life of 24-7 prayer, mission and justice

• LUCY DANGER

• JILLIAN MILLER
  CEO

• ANDY EGAN
  CEO

Andy joined ITF in September 2012. He has a varied background as an educator and manager in the fields of global education, community development, equalities and campaigns for environmental and social justice. Andy’s previous roles include Director of People and Planet and Team Leader for the Global School Partnerships programme at the British Council.

• LIZ STONE
  COO
  Appointed: September 2012

Liz has 15 years’ experience of working within the charity sector both in practice and within charities. Liz has overall responsibility for finance and resources for WLT and its trading subsidiary. Liz spends her spare time enjoying the outdoors with her family.

• RICHARD CUTHBERT
  Director of Conservation
  Appointed: January 2018

A conservation scientist by training, Richard has worked for over 20 years in international conservation on a diverse range of issues including the impact of non-native species on seabirds, the catastrophic decline of Asia’s vultures, and community projects to conserve coral reefs and rainforest. After obtaining a PhD in New Zealand he worked for over ten years with the RSPB’s international research team and three years directing Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS)’s country programme in Papua New Guinea. Richard joined WLT in 2018 and oversees the direction of WLT’s conservation programmes and the links with local partner organisations

• PAUL ROSAM
  CEO
  Appointed: May 2015

Paul was previously senior manager and consultant in the social care sector for over 25 years, working with both regional and national organisations in both the private and charitable sectors. He has experience of managing diverse services for a wide range of marginalised groups, including people with learning disabilities, mental health difficulties and the homeless. He has a real passion for creating transformational spaces in which marginalised people can thrive and develop, and also believes that charities should be transparent and provide strong evidence for their impact and achievements. He was previously Deputy CEO at the national training and disability charity, St Loye’s Foundation, where he played a central role in the Foundation’s modernisation and diversification strategies and oversaw a step change in the number of people receiving services from 130 to over 2,000 within 5 years.

• ANNA-MAI ANDREWS
  CEO
  Appointed: November 2015

Anna-mai has committed the last 16 years to working with vulnerable children. She has spent 11 years in leadership positions, including 6 years as the Director of Homeless Child, a Brazilian NGO working to tackle challenges faced by street children and their families. Since joining Chance for Childhood, Anna-mai has led the organisation through a successful rebrand and merger obtaining a 200% increase in income and winning the Collaboration Award at the BOND International Development Awards 2017.

• MATTHEW POWELL
  CEO
  Appointed: November 2014

Breaking Barriers is the brainchild of founder Matthew Powell who realised, while doing a Master’s degree in international development at the London School of Economics, how little support was available to help refugees integrate into society once they had been granted asylum status. He has recently been recognised by Forbes 30 under 30 in 2018 as one of Europe’s leading social entrepreneurs for his sustainable, scalable and business-led response to the refugee crisis.

• SARAH JOHNSON
  Operations Manager
  Appointed: January 2016

Sarah is responsible for overseeing the quality, improvement and development of service provision across three residential centres. She is a qualified counsellor and psychotherapist, formerly specialising in the treatment of substance misuse and addiction for offenders in custody.

• STEPHEN BALLANTYNE
  Head of Fundraising and Communications
  Appointed: September 2017

Stephen has over 15 years fundraising experience, most recently as Director of Fundraising at children’s and young people’s charity Together for Short Lives. He has held roles at other charities including Hospice UK.

• SHARON GROVES
  Financial Controller
  Appointed: March 2020

Sharon has over 30 years finance experience, mainly in the financial services sector where she became the Chairperson for corporate social responsibility at MetLife. She has worked as a volunteer for CRISIS for over 10 years and more recently has worked with local homeless charities in Devon including St Petrocks, Smile at a Stranger and Open Door.

• CHRISTINE WHINNEY
  Head of Programmes
  Appointed: February 2013

Christine has 10 years of international development field experience, and a Masters degree in Rural Development. She has managed a variety of programmes in the education, water and sanitation sectors across Africa and India. Christine joined Sand Dams Worldwide in February 2013, as Programmes Manager working primarily with ASDF. In April 2015, Christine’s role expanded to manage all of Sand Dams Worldwides programmes when she was promoted to Head of Programmes. Her role also includes developing new programmes, and collaborating with partners to build up Sand Dams Worldwides evidence work

• DWAIN LUCKTUNG
  Communications Manager
  Appointed: January 2016

Dwain previously worked as freelance journalist and Digital Content Editor for Ctrl.Alt.Shift (Christian Aid's youth political and social issue magazine), writing reports from countries like the Democratic Republic of Congo and Mali, before joining Livity (youth engagement agency) as a Senior Content and Community Manager and youth mentor. His passion for international development brought him back to the third sector and he subsequently joined Sand Dams Worldwide in 2016. Since then he has been leading on their communications strategy, as well as curating and creating both online and offline content for Sand Dams Worldwide

• DENISE MARSHALL
  Head of Services
  Appointed: January 2005

Denise’s role is to co-ordinate the services Birth Companions provide for women in prison and in the community, and to support the staff and volunteers who do this work. She also supports new birth companions through their training year. She joined Birth Companions in 2005 and has been instrumental in the growth and development of the organisation.

• KIRSTY KITCHEN
  Head of Policy and Communications
  Appointed: January 2019

Kirsty leads their work to build greater understanding of multiple disadvantage during pregnancy and early motherhood, in order to inform and influence policy and practice. She works directly with the Lived Experience Team and with policy-makers, parliamentarians, commissioners and the media to help make sure women’s voices are heard and responded to. She joined Birth Companions after many years working as a consultant specialising in charity communications and campaigns.

• KATE CHIVERS
  Engagement Project Manager
  Appointed: January 2012

Kate worked at HMP Holloway when she first joined birth companions and co-ordinated their services at HMP Peterborough and then managed a three year National Lottery Community Fund project in User-Engagement. Her current role is Engagement Manager, leading the Lived Experience Team (LET) The LET offers opportunities for women to influence maternity services through consultation and co-production. She liaises with commissioners, public bodies and other voluntary organisations to ensure the voice of women facing multiple disadvantage is represented in policy, research and service development. She is also a Peer Support Trainer which involves training serving prisoners to offer practical and emotional support to perinatal women in prison.

• PETE LEWIS
  Director of Fundraising
  Appointed: June 2010

Pete started his career in Corporate Event Management and then moved into the charity sector, working for Whale & Dolphin Conservation (WDC). After 5 years in various fundraising roles he became fundraising lead at Surfers Against Sewage. He has now been with the charity for 10 years and during this time has grown their income and impact.

• KATY ANSTIS
  Director of Finance

Katy started her career in the financial sector, and large retailers, before realising that she fundamentally disagreed with the work and took some time out to travel. She moved to the third and spent some time at Greenpeace, before deciding move to Surfers Against Sewage.

• JOHN KEANE
  CEO

John has worked in the off-grid solar sector for many years and was SolarAid’s second employee, more than a decade ago. He first lived in rural Tanzania 17 years ago and learned first hand what it’s like to exist without access to basic forms of infrastructure, beyond the electricity grid. Since this time, he has devoted his professional career to changing the unacceptable reality, where over 1 billion people live without access to lighting and electricity. He held many roles at SolarAid and SunnyMoney over the years and, following a year working with GOGLA (Global Off Grid Lighting Association) focusing on consumer protection and product quality issues, he returned to SolarAid as CEO.

• KARLA KANYANGA
  Operations Director - SunnyMoney Zambia
  Appointed: 2009

Karla joined SunnyMoney in 2009 and over the years started and shaped the job of Business Support Coordinator and has been most recently promoted to the Operations Director and is now in charge of all aspects of running the SunnyMoney business in Zambia. She has past work experience in Zambia as a Health and Safety Manager of a Mining Company and as Manager of local lodge and conference center. After marrying a Zambian, Karla moved from the United States to Lusaka where she has been based for the past 11 years. Karla lives in Lusaka with her husband and son.

• BRAVE MHONIE
  General Manager - Malawi
  Appointed: 2008

Brave is a social entrepreneur who started as field officer tasked with educating the community about importance of renewable energy as a mitigation measure of climate change at Solar Aid. He also worked on setting up the small scale local assembly of solar panels with wooden frames for community based solar projects. He has the passion to end poverty in Malawi through efficient investment in renewable energy, starting with solar technology. His drive is to create an environment of equal access to basic energy needs that can improve social economic wellbeing of the Malawian citizens.

• STUART RYLAND
  Director of Finance and Resources
  Appointed: October 2022

Before Solar Aid, Stuart spent 8 years as Finance Director for Three C’s, a social care charity providing supported living services across London. Prior to that he spent a decade working for King’s College London, firstly as Finance Director at the Institute of Psychiatry, and later as Director of Finance and Administration for the School of Social Science and Public Policy, during which time he worked in Kenya helping with the set-up of the African Leadership Centre, a project training civil servants across the continent of Africa. He is a Chartered Accountant (FCA) and also holds the ICAEW Diploma in Charity Accounting (DChA)

• IONA LEDWIDGE
  Executive Director of Social Change
  Appointed: February 2018

Iona is an International Coach Federation-accredited coach at MCC level, having trained with the Academy of Executive Coaching. She's head of the team running the Spear Programme and also works for Resurgo’s Consulting arm, engaging leaders in business in how to adopt a coaching approach in their leadership style.

• PETE BACON
  Executive Director of Impact
  Appointed: January 2020

Pete has worked in the charity sector for over ten years, and joined Resurgo as part of the coaching team in 2009 before managing a number of the central Spear centres. He joined the Impact team while Spear was embarking on the Theory of Change process, and pioneered Resurgo’s internal quality and development work with a particular focus on coaching quality. He now oversees Impact for Resurgo, and also delivers the Coaching For Leadership programme.

• ROSIE EVANS
  Director of Strategy
  Appointed: April 2022

Rosie was previously a strategy consultant at Bain & Company and at social consultancy the Good Faith Partnership, where she led projects that brought different groups together to tackle social challenges. Rosie has over 10 years’ experience in the charity and social enterprise sector, where she specialised in designing and delivering programmes to deliver sustainable social change at scale. Rosie is the Chair of the RAMP Project, a cross-party not for profit informing refugee, asylum, and migration policy. She has a MPhil in Medieval History from the University of Cambridge.

• JOE PRENDIVILLE
  Director of Strategic Partnerships
  Appointed: September 2020

Joe has extensive experience of managing and delivering education programmes to disadvantaged and marginalised people. He worked in senior leadership at a youth charity in East London for five years through a period of significant organisational growth, leading their education and training programmes. Most recently he worked as Principal of their Alternative Provision Free School.

• JENNY HOYLE
  Delivery Director

Before joining West London Zone, Jenny worked for 10 years in Children and Young People’s services with a specific focus on delivering and commissioning early intervention and prevention services. She has a depth of experience of working in and with voluntary sectors partners and working across the voluntary, private and public sectors to improve outcomes for local communities.

• ALEXIA PHILLIPS
  Finance Director
  Appointed: February 2019

Alexia is a qualified accountant with a Masters in Charity Finance and NGO Management. Prior to joining West London Zone, she worked in senior leadership positions for a number of children’s charities, and has considerable experience in managing finance, HR and operations. She has also recently undertook consultancy work on improving finance operations for Terres des Hommes UK and Amnesty International.

• SARA FURNESS
  Chief of Staff/Strategic Project Manager
  Appointed: October 2020

Sara joined upReach after previously working for a mix of charitable and educational organisations and works on governance, team co-ordination and internal project management. She is passionate about ensuring all students have access to the opportunities they need in life to reach their full potential.

• MEL PALMER
  Finance Director
  Appointed: November 2020

Mel is a chartered accountant with over 15 years of experience in the charity sector. She has held senior finance roles at various charities, including The Royal Hospital Chelsea and The Adolescent and Children’s Trust. She holds a BA in Accounting and Finance

• STUART SHELDON
  Operations Director
  Appointed: January 2020

Stuart's most recent roles have been senior positions within the higher education sector, including serving as Operations Director at Kaplan and National Head of Assessments at The University of Law. He holds a BA in Leadership and Management from the Open University and was the Open University Business School Leadership and Management Student of the Year in 2018.

• JEN FOX
  Deputy CEO

After reading Genetics at Trinity College Dublin, Jen spent a year as Education Officer of the Students’ Union before her first post in the charity sector working with ‘Business in the Community’ on their education programmes. In 2012 she emigrated to the UK and spent three years teaching in a secondary school in south London. While there she specialised in programme design for high achieving disadvantaged pupils and completed the Teach First Leadership Development Programme. In 2015 she achieved a ‘Masters in Leadership’ through University College London. She joined Action Tutoring in late 2015, initially as the Programme and Curriculum Director, progressing to Interim CEO in 2017. She took a career break in 2019 before coming back refreshed and taking up her current post. Jen is Interim CEO covering Susannah Hardyman’s maternity cover for the period Dec 2020 - August 2021.

• FLEUR PEEL
  Director of Marketing and Communications
  Appointed: September 2016

Before joining Action Tutoring, Fleur worked on the Communications Team of The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award (DofE), helping to support young people to develop skills through their DofE programmes and improve their life chances.

• SUSANNAH FRENCH
  Director of Finance and Operations
  Appointed: August 2022

Prior to joining Action Tutoring, Susannah worked in a variety of roles, most recently as Operations Director for an Education Charity. Having left school at 16, she completed her degree in Law as a mature student, studying alongside working part time to achieve this. She has been a school governor since 2009, chairing various sub-committees, recruiting and mentoring new governors and undertaking the role of Link Governor. She is the current joint vice-chair.

• YASMIN MORGAN
  Head of Engagement
  Appointed: November 2021

Yasmin used the Baby Buddy app throughout her pregnancy and maternity, and acted as a parent voice, sharing her experiences at the Surrey Roundtable events and recorded a podcast with Dame Andrea Leadsom MP, chair of the Early Years Healthy Development Review. This led her to joining the team initially as an Engagement Lead. Alongside her role at Best Beginnings, she is a member of the Epsom and St Helier Hospitals Maternity Voices Partnership. She has a passion and interest in seeing her local maternity service improve, as well as the outcomes, experience and safety of all parents and children. Additionally, she is part of the Parent Advisory Group and involved in a 3-year project on ethnic inequalities in healthcare for babies and children under 5 years old in England.

• ANNA COOLEY-GREENE
  Interim Head of Operations
  Appointed: February 2023

Anna joined Best Beginnings in February 2023 as Interim Head of Operations. Originally training in Fine Art, Anna has worked in the charity sector for most of her career with a focus on homelessness and young people services. She has held senior roles for the past 9 years most recently with Salvation Army Housing Association and YMCA DownsLink Group where her focus was on creating and developing innovative offers for young people and families experiencing homelessness locally, nationally, and internationally.

• NICOLA CADBURY
  Head of Digital and Content
  Appointed: February 2020

Nicola has previously worked as Senior Policy and Communications Manager for the National Literacy Trust, focusing on influencing work related to language, communication and literacy development in the early years. Prior to that she led campaigns at ActionAid, including the Tax Justice campaign and the Send My Friend to School coalition. This campaign contributed to the UK government becoming the leading global education donor and engaged over a million young people in the UK, supporting them to develop as confident campaigners. Nicola’s voluntary sector career includes extensive experience across communications, campaigning, fundraising and partnerships work

• NILUSHKA PERERA
  Head of Evaluation, Impact and Policy
  Appointed: June 2020

Born and raised in Sri Lanka, Nilushka joined Best Beginnings after completing her Master’s degree in Public Health in 2016. She has experience in teaching and working on rehabilitating communities dealing with conflict and disaster in Sri Lanka, and has a strong interest in research, behavioural health and a background in Psychology.

• SARAH CALCUTT
  CEO
  Appointed: October 2022

Sarah is a respected Food Sector leader, part of the 6th generation of her family involved in food and farming. With a successful career centred in U.K. food and sustainability, hunger-related Public Policy issues have always been very close to her heart.

• OLLY BELCHER
  Founder and CEO
  Appointed: May 2008

Olly founded Shivia in 2008 and was appointed CEO in September 2010. She drives Shivia’s overall strategy and fundraises to support the operations in India. She has an MSc (Distinction) and MA Geography (First Class Honours) both from Oxford University and has based her Undergraduate and Masters theses on issues affecting the poor of West Bengal, India. She travelled extensively in India and Nepal before joining the World Bank in Washington DC, where she was awarded the World Bank Youth Innovation Fund. She returned to London to work for Accenture Strategy and started on her plan to launch Shivia. Olly sits on the board of the charity MAITS and is President of St Edmund Hall (Oxford) Association, representing 10,000 alumni and relations with the college. She previously sat on the committees for Leonard Cheshire International, St Mary’s Ascot School Alumnae and the board of Moonpig Foundation. She was the UK Ambassador for the NGO, BASE, working with very poor communities in West Nepal and remains heavily involved with the foster home, Familia, in West Bengal.

• VICTORIA HORNBY
  CEO
  Appointed: December 2017

From 2011 to 2017, Victoria was Director of Programmes at The Royal Foundation, building a portfolio of projects including the Invictus Games, Coach Core, United for Wildlife and Heads Together. Before joining the Foundation, she was a Senior Executive at the Sainsbury Family Trusts and CEO of an international development charity. She began her career as Field Director of an aid agency, living and working in Eastern Europe for four years. Alongside her day jobs, she is a Director of Social Finance, adviser to the Charles Dunstone Charitable Trust, and a trustee of the Westminster Foundation and the Bridges Impact Foundation.

• VICTORIA DENISON
  UK Operations Manager
  Appointed: December 2014

Victoria supports Olly and the trustees in the day-to-day running of the charity, plus working on fundraising, reporting to donors, events and designing Shivia’s publicity materials and website. She previously worked for a music heritage charity, The Abubilla Music Foundation on The Singing Wells Project in East Africa. She has a joint honours degree in Law and Psychology from Keele University.

• FRANKA FUELLER
  Head of Mass Giving
  Appointed: June 2019

Before joining the charity, Franka headed up individual giving at Shelter Box and in her 10 years there, increased giving went from £1m to £6m.

• NICOLA HILL
  Head of Impact
  Appointed: January 2019

Nicola has a mixed background of consulting, operational management, cycle programme delivery and migrant sector experience. She has been with the charity since June 2016 and began volunteering as an instructor at their cycle training for refugee women before taking up her role. She was also behind organising their Critical Mass bike ride to Calais in 2015.

• MATT FORSYTH
  Head of Operations and Contracts
  Appointed: October 2010

Matthew has a background in local authority and project management. Since joining the charity, he has managed a number of key projects and now oversees all operational delivery. He leads on Sport 4 Life UK contracts and commissioned work, and is the organisation’s designated safeguarding lead

• ROB WELLS
  Head of Business Development
  Appointed: October 2019

Rob is the newest member of the Leadership Team and has over 20 years’ experience working in the public sector, higher education and one of the biggest national governing bodies of sport. An experienced leader and coach with a passion for growth and making a difference to people’s lives, he is responsible for business development, including income generation, marketing and partnerships

• SAAD MOHAMMED
  Head of Research and Impact
  Appointed: July 2017

Saad has an academic background, and is dedicated to ensuring that the charity adopts a data-rich, learning and progressive approach to its work with young people, understanding what works and key reporting, research, insights and impact management. He also looks after the organisation’s internal CRM system